The Exiles Trilogy

Rating:
Summary: Simple and brilliant
Review: BRIEF SUMMARY:
The exile of reason from human life drives an impassioned quest for intellectual understanding. Lou Christopher contemptuously writes off the world's rejection of reason and indifference to the forced exile of its greatest minds. Caught in a power struggle over her destiny, Valery Loring emerges triumphant on the premise that human freedom lies in a basic choice: to think or not to think. His thinking undercut by superstition-still, Linc must know before he can decide to save himself and his peers from disaster.

AN OPEN LETTER TO BEN BOVA:

Dear Mr. Bova,

I am writing to thank you for creating The Exiles Trilogy. I have read many of your novels, but regard The Exiles Trilogy as your greatest work. I first read it when I was thirteen, and recently bought a new copy. Today, at twenty-seven, I am just as moved by your heroic vision as I was fourteen years ago.

Back then I could not explain my emotional response to what your heroes sought and why. But I have learned much in the last few years, and I am deeply indebted to you. The Exiles Trilogy dramatizes the importance of the human mind and the value of human beings. It confirms an intense conviction that, until a few years ago, I had only sensed: that my own life is important -- an end in itself to be nurtured and kept, not sacrificed to the ignorant of the world or to the whims of brutes.

I do not presume to know your explicit philosophical beliefs. What is important is that your saga dramatizes, in terse plot structure and characterization, the rejection of the mind and its exile from human existence. Your heroes' struggles and ultimate triumphs suggest an impassioned plea, by you, for man to discover and embrace his own rational nature. Intellectual understanding is something I had continually sought as a teenager, but never found. I sensed only on an emotional level the life-preserving connection between thought and action, that action without thought leads nowhere, that to think or not is the fundamental choice and issue of human existence. Without a dramatic example like The Exiles Trilogy, my emotion would have remained precarious; your story bought me time to make explicit the important sense I had of myself and of life.

Your heroes are tremendous; their actions and purposes are a joy to contemplate. Not only do they possess great physical prowess, they also recognize and deal with their conflicts at the deepest level. They share a common quest for intellectual understanding. Lou Christopher, a computer engineer resolved to continue his life's work in exile, grasps the government's aimless, brutish nature; the people's indifference to the scientists' plight; the world's ignorance of the mind. He persuades the exiled scientists to turn their orbiting gulag into a purposeful starship. Valery Loring, a computer programmer determined to control her own life, is caught in a futile power struggle which threatens to destroy the ship and all aboard. In her search for truth she embodies the locus of human freedom, the choice to think. Linc, an active-minded boy stifled by hostile, superstitious peers and by his own fears, senses danger to them all. Still, Linc must know before he can decide to save himself and his friends.

It is not as if your heroes could decide, act, and triumph without knowing -- as if reason was desirable but optional. Your universe succinctly dramatizes the inescapable connection between individual thinking and human survival. This is what makes the heroes of The Exiles Trilogy so real and compelling.

I was a structural engineer at NASA/JSC for seven years before I quit in order to become a professional philosopher and intellectual. My favorite philosopher and top hero is Ayn Rand; perhaps you have heard of her. I highly recommend her novels. For The Exiles Trilogy you are my hero and mentor, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Respectfully yours,
Neil Erian

Rating:
Summary: Good sci-fi
Review: People like to divide Science fiction in many genres: hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, alien sci-fi, whatever. I don't even know what each one means. All I care is if it's good sci-fi or not. "The exiles trilogy", though not a masterpiece, is one very enjoyable story.

Ben Bova wrote the three parts of his trilogy between 1971 and 1975. The first part, "Exiled from Earth", set in the near future, tells about how the World government decides to cast away all the top-most genetic scientists and people working with them, least they un-balance the already precarious staquos quo of the overpopulated planet. This first part is the most action packed and has little science fiction in its lines, and is in fact the least likeable part of the trilogy. But what I noticed is that Bova's style is very similar to some of Asimov's stories, the ones featuring Lucky Starr, Elijah Bailey and Hari Seldon in the prequels to the "Foundation" series (books that I constantly re-read). Full of little plots that get together in the end, shallow but likeable characters, fast-paced reading.

The second and third parts, "Flight of the exiles" and "End of exile" are set aboard the sattelite/spaceship that becomes home to the exiles. These two parts have little or no connection between themselves or the first part of the trilogy, except for the fact of the earlier exile. They're darker, better written and the main plots are much more interesting. I won't say anything because I don't want to spoil the fun of reading them.

But my two comments on "The exiles trilogy" are: 1) Although the three parts were written in separate and were meant to be standalones, I think they must be read back-to-back. They'll be better enjoyed this way. 2) There are many things that happened between the three parts of the trilogy, but Bova hardly explains what happens. I was left with the feeling that I wanted something more, and I kept looking for it till the end, but those explanations never came. Maybe Bova could write new books about the Exiles. The story is very good and has potential for further development.

Grade 8.1/10

Rating:
Summary: great story line in a trilogy
Review: This is a great story packed into a trilogy. I liked it so much that I am now looking for a continuation. This is the kind of book which is hard to put down even at 1:30 a.m. This is true sc-fi - i.o.w. this storyline could not be transferred to our present or past. I did not like the fact that there is no continuation of the characters from one part of the trilogy to the next. Most disappointing though is the fact that the story ends when the exiles set foot on their new home planet! But - as I said - I want to find out if Ben Bova continued this story or if he has plans to do so in the future. What happens next, Ben? Go get the book - you'll like it.

Rating:
Summary: A good starter book for the young reader
Review: This was the first science fiction book I read as a kid. The simple but imaginative storyline launched me forever into a love for true science fiction. The story is simply written but is very thought provoking. I have recently found the book again, and re-read it. It still has a magical effect on me, and it will be one that I hope does the same for my kids someday! I too would love to see a sequel of some sorts from Mr. Bova...!

Rating:
Summary: A good starter book for the young reader
Review: This was the first science fiction book I read as a kid. The simple but imaginative storyline launched me forever into a love for true science fiction. The story is simply written but is very thought provoking. I have recently found the book again, and re-read it. It still has a magical effect on me, and it will be one that I hope does the same for my kids someday! I too would love to see a sequel of some sorts from Mr. Bova...!